Consumer Right No. 6

Right to Fair and Honest Dealing

What does this mean for the ordinary consumer?

Your right to protection against unconscionable conduct:

• Suppliers are not permitted to use physical force against consumers, coercion, undue influence, pressure, duress, harassment, unfair tactics or any other similar conduct when doing the following:
  • Marketing goods or services;
  • Supplying goods or services;
  • Negotiating, concluding, executing or enforcing agreements to supply goods and services;
  • Demanding or collecting payments for goods or services; and
  • Recovering goods or services from consumers.
• Suppliers are not permitted to take advantage of consumers who are unable to protect their interests due to mental or physical disability, poor literacy, ignorance or inability to understand the language of an agreement or any similar factors.

NB! Unconscionable conduct refers to behaviour that is unethical or improper.

Your right to protection against false, misleading or deceptive representations:

• Suppliers are not permitted to, directly or indirectly, provide consumers with false, misleading or deceptive representations regarding goods or services; and
• Suppliers are not permitted to use exaggeration, innuendo or ambiguity when referring to goods or services or the benefits thereof.

Your right to protection against fraudulent schemes and offers

• Persons are not permitted to initiate, sponsor, promote or knowingly participate in communication or activities, with the intent to defraud others.
• Persons are not permitted to produce counterfeit currency, or purport to increase a sum of money, through scientific means or otherwise.
• Persons are not permitted to engage in fraudulent or unlawful financial transactions.

Your right to protection against pyramid and related schemes

• Persons are not permitted to, directly or indirectly, promote or knowingly join, enter into or participate in the following schemes:
  • Multiplication schemes (offering interest rates of 20% and above the South African Reserve Bank-regulated repo rate);
  • Pyramid schemes (receiving compensation, primarily from the respective recruitment of other participants);
  • Chain letter schemes (actively solicit or recruit participants, and obtain compensation for new recruits); or
  • Any other fraudulent schemes or scams.

Your right to assume that suppliers are entitled to sell goods:

• Consumers have the right to assume that suppliers have the legal right or authority to supply goods or products that are on sale or promoted by the suppliers.
• Consumers have the right to assume that lessors have the legal right or authority to lease goods or products at the time that the lessees are to take possession of the leased goods.

Procedure for sales by auction:

• Suppliers are required, when auctioning goods or products in lots and unless otherwise stated, to auction lots separately, via separate transactions.
• Auctioneers are required to close auctions by visibly or audibly announcing their completion.
• Auctioneers should give notice that a sale by auction is subject to a reserved or upset price, and the right to bid by or on behalf of the owner/auctioneer.

Your right to changes, deferrals and waivers, and substitution of goods:

• Suppliers are required, in the event of deferrals, waivers and substitutions to original agreements, to treat these as changes to existing agreements and not as grounds to enter into new agreements.
• Consumers have the right to substitute goods or products, and are entitled to protection of these substituted goods or products, from the date of delivery.
• Suppliers are required to deliver to consumers, amended sales agreements or records, describing the substituted goods, but without making other changes to the original agreements or records.

Your right to protection against over-selling and over-booking:

• Suppliers are not permitted to accept payment or other consideration for any goods or services, if:
  • They have no intention of supplying those goods or providing those services; and
  • They intend to supply goods that are materially different from the goods or services, for which payment was accepted.
• Suppliers are required to honour the supply of goods or services on specified dates, times and other particulars, if committing to such arrangements in reservations or bookings.
• Consumers have the right to demand refunds for full amounts paid in respect of commitments or reservations, together with interest, at prescribed rates, from the dates of payment until the dates of reimbursement.